Over the past couple of months, we've been welcoming Google Play Music listeners to YouTube Music as they effortlessly transfer their music libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to YouTube Music. Today we're announcing two important updates. First, YouTube Music will replace Google Play Music by December 2020. Users will have the opportunity to transfer their music libraries from Google Play Music to YouTube Music in that timeframe. Second, in the coming months, Google Play Music users will no longer be able to stream from or use the Google Play Music app. Additionally, we are making changes to the Google Play store and Music Manager.
Starting in September 2020 in New Zealand and South Africa — and in October for all other global markets — users will no longer be able to stream from or use the Google Play Music app. But don't worry, we will be holding onto things like your playlists, uploads, purchases, likes and more until December 2020 to make your transfer to YouTube Music easier. Users who wish to transfer their music libraries from Google Play Music to YouTube Music, can do so through December 2020, after which their Google Play Music libraries will no longer be available.
Simple transfer and additional changes to Music Manager
Starting in late August, users will no longer be able to purchase and pre-order music or upload and download music from Google Play Music through Music Manager.
To ensure users don't lose any of their content, they'll need to use the simple transfer tool to migrate any purchases over to YouTube Music or use Google Takeout to export data and download their purchased and uploaded music. Once the Music Store is no longer available, users will continue to be able to upload any tracks purchased elsewhere to YouTube Music.
For Google Play listeners that have not yet started the transfer process over to YouTube Music, now's the time. Listeners can also choose to delete their Google Play Music data, and we will clearly notify all users before they lose access to their Google Play Music library and data.
Enhancements to your new home for music: YouTube Music
Since introducing the transfer tool in May, we've continued to improve and add new features to YouTube Music for all music lovers to enjoy, including many that are important and familiar to Google Play Music users.
- Playlists: We're continuously evolving the way listeners can create and enjoy playlists, including:
- Assistive Playlist Creation - Quickly and easily create playlists by adding recommended songs based on existing songs in the playlist, as well as personalized signals, such as watch history and likes.
- Collaborative Playlists - Collaborate with other music fans to create shared playlists for any occasion.
- New Programmed Playlists - Explore newly launched programmed playlists like Highline, Caribbean Pulse, Conditions Underground, and more.
- New Features and Improvements:
- Player Page Redesign - Updates to the player page, available for Android mobile users, provides a more modern design that allows better playback controls and easier access to related music and other features like song lyrics.
- Explore Tab - The new Explore tab, available on both mobile and the web, now features Top Charts, making it easy to explore popular music from around the world.
- More Ways to Enjoy YouTube Music:
- Android TV - An update for Android TV brings YouTube Music to the big screen, letting listeners enjoy videos and live performances from their favorite artists, along with all their favorite music.
- Google Maps - The Android integration lets listeners seamlessly listen to music and get personalized music recommendations within the Google Maps interface.
- Discover music with Google Assistant - You can now ask your Google Home and Nest smart speakers, "Hey Google, play recommended music from YouTube Music." Then, Google Assistant will share personalized recommendations based on your favorite artists and genres.
Over the last few years, we've worked to build a fantastic fan experience on YouTube Music, merging the very best of Google Play Music with the very best of YouTube. For users who decide not to transfer their Google Play Music account to YouTube music, we will be sure to cancel your subscription at the end of your billing cycle so you aren't paying for a subscription. This will happen in September in New Zealand and South Africa and in October for all other markets. And, of course, we will be sure to notify all users ahead of subscriptions being canceled.
We can't wait for you to start exploring YouTube Music features and discovering new music favorites along the way. Have more questions or need help? Check out all of our support resources here.
Posted by Team YouTube